


You Are My Sunshine

by WillowLong



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Weirdmageddon, Amnesiac Grunkle Stan, Character Death, Depression, Dipper Pines Needs A Hug, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional Roller Coaster, Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, Ghost!Mabel, Ghosts, Grunkle Ford Needs A Hug, Grunkle Stan Needs A Hug, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Memory Erasing Gun, Memory Loss, Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Mentions of Suicide, Music boxes, Post-Weirdmageddon, Psychological Torture, Sad Grunkle Stan, Scrapbookortunities, Stan is broken, Suicidal Thoughts, Survivor Guilt, Tumblr Prompt, Weirdmageddon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9430109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowLong/pseuds/WillowLong
Summary: What if Mabel didn't survive Weirdmageddon? What if she didn't know she was dead? Ford can't pull his brother away from her room and his memories tear him apart from the inside. Ford and Dipper won't give up trying to bring Mabel back. Stan won't leave Mabel alone again.





	1. It's My Fault

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired and written for a wonderful writer on Tumblr. I'm honored I was asked to do a fic for them and am excited to see how this is going to turn out. Thank you for the wonderful prompt.

They already knew it was over. They had lost and there wasn’t a damn thing any of them could do about it. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t been so selfish, had just accepted reality and let Dipper stay with Ford none of this would have happened. Her Grunkle Ford and her brother would have put that glue stuff on the rift and they would all be safe. The town, the world, heck, the _universe_. She could have went home to California and she would have been fine. Sure, everything she loved would be back in Gravity Falls and she would be alone until the next summer came but she would have lived with that. She would have lived.

 

“ _Now, which one of you am I going to kill first? Hmmm….Maybe I should have you rock, paper scissors for it! But with REAL ROCKS AND SCISSORS!”_ Bill held the two younger twins in a huge hand while their uncles screamed and pounded against the walls of their prison.

 

“NO! Let them go! Please!” Ford begged, his hands gripped tightly around the glowing blue bars of his cage. 

 

 _“It’s too late, I.Q! You made your choice and now I get to make MINE!”_ Bill’s grasp tightened around the pair of teens. Mabel’s eyes drifted down to her uncle’s. They looked so scared and it was all her fault. They just got each other back and now they were going to die before they even had a chance to love one another again. She couldn’t let that happen. Bill looked away from the older twins and his eye burned red.

 

 _“Now. Which one of you is it gonna be? No one want’s to come forward, huh?_ He directed his glare down to Mabel, his eye twitching like he he could read her mind. He probably could. _“Shooting star? Not even you? Fine! Hmmm. Ini mimi miney-”_ A pine tree formed where his pupil should be and she knew she couldn’t let her brother die for her mistakes. Bill could see the guilt seared into her face and if he had a mouth it would be twisted into an evil smirk.

 

“NO! It’s all my fault! I’ll go. Please, let them go. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.” A single tear ran down the side of her face at the thought of never seeing her family again but it was nothing like the pain she felt when imagining a world without them. They didn’t know it had been her who gave Bill the rift. They didn’t know how she had selfishly destroyed the world because she couldn’t face the idea of leaving her uncle's behind and going back home just to grow up and become a stupid high schooler. She couldn’t let them die because of her.

 

“MABEL! NO!” Ford screamed, his voice breaking and face wet from the sweat and tears scorching his cheeks.

 

“Bill, please! Don’t do this! She’s just a child! She doesn’t deserve this.” Stan stood behind his brother, back straight and chest heaving.

 

 _“Oh, she doesn’t huh? Why don’t you ask her? What do you say, shooting star? Do you deserve this?”_ She couldn’t tell them she had caused this. She just couldn’t.

 

 _“We’re all waiting! TELL THEM OR THEY ALL DIE.”_ She knew he wasn’t bluffing. A sob shook her body as she cried out.

 

“It’s true! I did this! It’s all my fault. I couldn’t deal with growing up. I couldn’t leave Gravity Falls and I gave Bill the rift in exchange for just a little bit more summer. I swear I didn’t know it was Bill but I still did it! Grunkle Stan worked for his whole life to bring back Ford and I ruined the rest of their lives because I was selfish and only thought about my feelings. I’m a bad person.” She turned to her brother and gasped through her tears at the pained look on his face. “Dipper, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been so dumb. You should have told Ford you’d stay and work with him. You could have been awesome together and I ruined it.”

 

Dipper shook his head, a whimper of sound escaping his lips. “Mabel, no. No you couldn’t have known. It’s-it’s not your fault.”

 

“Yes it is, Dip. It really, really is. I can’t let you suffer because I’m an idiot.”

 

 _“Did you hear that, Gravity Falls?!”_ Bill dropped Dipper into the cage with his uncles and held Mabel up so that she entire town could hear her. _“Say it again, shooting star! Say it loud and proud for everyone to hear! Tell them how you killed them all because you’re A SELFISH MONSTER!”_

 

She tried to compose herself, the words stabbing through her chest. It wasn’t so much that they were so cruel, but because they were true. She hoped Bill killed her. She couldn’t live after this. “It’s my fault. I gave Bill the rift because I couldn’t stand growing up! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry.” Her head bowed and she forced herself to look at three favorite boys in the entire world, locked in a cage because of HER.

 

Ford was screaming and shaking the bars, eyes red and wild like a rabid dog. “BILL PLEASE! Please, let her go! It’s me you want! Take me! Please, take me.” He collapsed to his knees and stared up at the chaos demon, face pleading as he begged for his niece’s life.

 

 _“Oh, don’t worry Sixer! I’ll get to you soon enough. But for now, I think you all need a lesson in what happens when you don’t get along. And to think. All of this could have been avoided if you could all just GET. ALONG!”_ Bill lifted his hand and Mabel could feel heat burning through her body.

 

“WAIT! Bill, please! Let me tell them good-bye. Please can I tell them good-bye?” She needed to hold them. Just one last time.

 

Bill seemed to think for a second before lowering her into the cage with her family. _“FINE! You have two minutes! Starting…….NOW!”_

 

Ford grabbed her in his arms and held on to her as if it were his life that depended on it and not the small girl in front of him. “Gr-grunkle Stan?” Stan, dressed in his brother’s clothes nodded and held a shaky hand up to her face, shh-ing her with a large finger. “I’m gonna save us, sweetheart. Don’t you worry.” His husky voice was nothing more than a whisper as she uselessly wiped a tear away from his cheek.

 

“It’s ok, Grunkle Stan. There’s nothing you can do and you know it. I’m ready.” She was calm as she said this, quietly accepting her fate.

 

“Mabel, no!” Dipper grabbed his sister’s shoulder and she released her uncle and swung herself into her twin.

 

“Dipper, I’m so sorry I did this to you. I just wanted a little bit more summer and now…now no one is ever going to see another summer ever again.” Dipper shook her by the shoulders.

 

“Mabel! Don’t say that! It’s not your fault.”

 

 _“HAHAHA! Oh, yes it is! And after I invade your uncle’s mind, I’m going to make sure the entire universe knows who made it all possible! You might not be here to see it, but your family sure will be!”_ Bill laughed at the way the four Pines clutched each other close.

 

Guilt and shame burned in her chest and she could do nothing but smile at her brother. “Dipper, I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die. Wherever I end up, I don’t want to see you there for a long time, do you hear me? A VERY long time. That goes for all of you.” She sniffed and shook her tiny finger at her uncles.

 

“You’re not going to d-die!” Stan grabbed her once again and held her tight.

 

 _“Time’s up! Let her go, I.Q!”_ Bill reached into the cage and pulled Mabel from Stan’s arms.

 

“NO! No, please! BILL!” Stan screamed after his niece, arms uselessly grabbing at the air.

 

Bill held his hand up to the sky, the ceiling of the building disappearing so that the entire town can see the sky. _“Say bye-bye!”_ With that Bill’s wrist flicked upward and Mabel’s body shot into the sky. Her body streaked through the air, turning a bright shade of orange as the pressure of the atmosphere burned her like a comet. She disappeared, leaving nothing but a bright light in the sky. She was gone.

 

“NOOOOO!” Stan turned to Bill, eyes fierce, a thin line of blood running down his chin where he had bit down on his lip.

 

 _“Oh, don’t worry Sixer! It’s your turn!”_ With that Bill vanished into what he thought was Ford’s brain. _“Finally! I’m here! Oh, Stanford, how long I’ve waited for this-”_ He took a stumbling step backwards as he flung open the door to Stan’s mind. _“WHAT?!”_

 

Stanley sat in his chair, motionless in the living room of the mystery shack. “Pretty clever, huh? Change our clothes and no one can tell us apart.”

 

Outside of Stan’s mind, Ford pointed the memory gun at his brother’s head. “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t look at his brother as he knelt on the ground in front of him. Gasping around a sob, Ford pulled the trigger. A rivulet of blue light struck Stan’s forehead, his mouth gaping open like a dying fish. Dipper held onto his uncles suit jacket.

 

“You killed her. You fucking piece of shit. You’re done. It’s over.” Stan stood from his seat and grabbed a photo of the kids, running a finger over Mabel’s face, letting a single tear fall onto the glass before looking up at the demon.

 

 _“This isn’t supposed to happen! I’m supposed to win!”_ Bill’s body distorted itself as he cried out. Stanley dropped the frame, glass breaking over the floor. Stooping down, he grabbed one of the larger shards and rushed over to Bill.

 

“YOU’RE SO FUCKING LUCKY YOU’RE DYING, CIPHER!” He stabbed at Bill, slicing his hand open and smearing his blood inside of his twisting eye. “I’m not going to remember her. I’m not going to remember anyone. Thank god I won’t remember.” Every emotion he had ever felt seemed to drain from his body, finally realizing that he was essentially going to be dead too. Maybe the gun would drain his memory on how to breath and he wouldn’t wake up. Maybe he would die, too. Please, let him die.

 

With that, Bill vanished, spewing nonsense as he disappeared into the filthy living room carpet. Stan fell to the floor, cutting his knees in the glass. His hand dripped blood onto the picture of his niece and nephew as the last of his memories abandoned him.

 

“Pops was right all along. I guess I wasn’t good for anything, after all. I’m so sorry, kids. I’m so sorry.” One last tear dripped onto the photo and he was gone.

 

Ford dropped the gun and collapsed in front of his brother as the world righted itself around them. It was over.


	2. I'm Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan gets his memories back

The war was over. They had won. Stan slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the world around him as if seeing it for the first time. It was so,  _ green.  _ Was he in the woods? Who were this people kneeling around him and why did they look like someone just died? Why the fuck did he  _ feel _ like someone had just died? Who was he? His mind felt like it was only seconds from vanishing into the breeze. 

 

“Grunkle Stan...you did it.” The boy looked like he was talking to him. He had to be, there was no one else around, unless he was talking to the man in the long coat next to him.

 

“Hehe, who ya talkin’ to kid?” The boy wiped at the tears flowing down his face.

 

“Gr-grunkle Stan? It’s...it’s me. Dipper. It’s Dipper.” He wasn’t sure who this kid was but silently watched as his face strained with a hopeless desperation. “Grunkle Stan, please. Please, it’s me! It’s me…” He trailed off, his voice too weak to speak. 

 

“It’s no use, Dipper. He doesn’t remember us. He doesn’t remember anything. He’s gone.” He had the same somber look on his face as the boy, except his eyes looked less desperate and more...broken. 

 

“Uhhh, what the hell is going on here?” He was really starting to get uncomfortable watching these strangers staring at him and bawling. The old guy grabbed his hand and ran his thumb over Stan’s palm. Six fingers? Yeah, that was weird but he didn’t pull away. Something about this guy’s hands made that vanishing feeling in his head a little bit better. 

 

“Let’s get you home.” He didn’t know where home was but following these two seemed like his best and only option at this point. He let the old guy and the boy each hold a hand as they lead him through the woods and to a shitty looking cabin. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“The Mystery Shack? What is all this junk?” He looked around at the statues in the yard. Neither of his guides answered him, only ushered him into the house and his mind seemed to clear just a tiny bit more.

 

_ “Where am I? What…? OH! BILL! ”  _ Mabel woke up on her bed, alone in her attic bedroom with no memory of how she got there. Heat. She could remember heat. Her whole body was on fire and she couldn’t breath. Bill...Bill had her. She couldn’t save them. He was going to kill them!  _ “Dipper! Grunkle Ford! STAN?! Where are you guys?!”  _ She jumped up from the bed and ran down the stairs, fear pounding in her chest.  _ “He has them. Bill has them!”  _  She stopped when she saw the three of them coming through the front door, relief rushing through her body.  _ “Oh, thank God! You guys are alright!”  _ She ran over to them and threw herself at Stan’s legs. He didn’t even pause, knocking her face first onto the kitchen floor.  _ “Wh-what?” _

 

“Hey. Nice place you got here.” He spied an old, stained lazy-boy in front of a television and almost on instinct wandered over to it and sat down. 

 

“It’s your place, Grunkle Stan. Don’t you remember?” The kid was still pointlessly wiping the tears away from his face. 

 

_ “Grunkle Stan? Dip? Ford! PLEASE! What is going on? Please look at me!”  _ Mabel rushed between the three, trying to pull on Ford’s jacket but her hand barely ruffled it, as if she were made of smoke. 

 

“Nah. But this chair hugs my butt like it remembers. I’m guessing my name is Stan. Now who are you two? And why are you blubberin’ like ya’ just watched your dog get ran over with a lawn mower ?” Something shiny on his palm caught his eye. “Glitter?” One look around the room told him that it wasn’t just his chair that was cover in the craft supply. “Why is the entire room covered in glitter? And...why is it making me feel like jumping off of a roof?” 

 

“It’s nothing. Just, an accident with one of your attractions and you were pretty upset about it.” The old guy with the coat looked like he was about to pass out. 

 

_ “It wasn’t an accident! It was me! It’s my glitter! You love glitter, Grunkle Stan!” LOOK!  _ She panicked, trying to pick up a handful of glitter. 

 

“Why do I feel like you’re lying to me?” Stan stood up from his chair and started wandering around the room, looking at the various oddities that littered the house. “Hey! It’s, whatever this thing is. Why do I remember this and not my name?” He held up a weird half fish, half monkey thing and turned to the two boys and smiled. They didn’t smile back. 

 

“Grunkle Ford. What do we do?” The Kid, Dipper, (What the hell kind of name was Dipper?) looked up at the coat guy. 

 

“I don’t know, boy.” He was pale, woefully staring at him. 

 

“There has to be  _ something  _ we can do. Anything.” Man, this kid was determined to get him to remember whatever it was he’d forgot. 

 

Mabel was only inches from her brother’s face, screaming as tears dripped down her translucent face.  _ “Dip! Oh, God Dipper! What is happening! Please, talk to me! I need you to see me, Dip! Where is Bill?! Did he take my body?! WHERE IS MY BODY!?”  _

 

“Dipper. I think it’s best we let him stay this way.” The old guy’s feeble attempt at speech pulled at his chest. He was hit with an almost instinctual need to comfort him. Dropping the fish/monkey, he crossed the room and stopped in front of the guy. 

 

“No! I’m not going to give up on him and neither are you.” The kid ran off in the direction of some stairs and he heard a door slam. Mabel followed him up the stairs.

 

_ “Dipper. How did you do this? MY SOCK PUPPETS! I’ll go in a sock puppet!”  _ She saw the Mabel puppet on the corner of her bed and tried to merge with it.  _ “How did you do this, Dipper? I need to talk to you!”  _ Dipper was rushing around the room, pulling out her scrapbooks and flipping through the pages, yanking pictures out and letting tears drip onto the pages. She looked at what he was pulling out. They were all pictures of her. 

 

“I don’t know if it’s weird or not, but I need to hug you.” He didn’t really know how this guy knew him but he was positive whatever it was went beyond friendship. He didn’t have to think about it for long, the coat guy wrapping his arms around his chest and pulling them together, hiding his face in Stan’s neck and rekindling his sobs. 

 

“Stanley, I’m so sorry. For everything, I never meant for any of this to happen and now…” His voice trailed off into a fit of tears, soaking Stan’s suit jacket. 

 

_ “DIPPER! Ughhhhh!!”  _ Mabel gave up on her brother, running back down the stairs. Maybe she could get her uncles to see her.  _ “Guys! Where’s Bill! What happened to the rift?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!”  _ They were hugging and Ford was crying. Really hard. What the heck was going on?!

 

“Hey, now. It’s alright. It’s ok.” He ran a hand along the guy’s back, suddenly feeling something dark manifesting itself in his heart. Something had happened. Something worse than a dead dog and he was a part of it. The guy clung to him, body shaking and Stan needed to pull him closer.

 

Mabel watched her uncle’s face fall and a haunted look cast over his eyes. She couldn’t breath. Why couldn’t she breath? Her chest was on fire. Fire. She was burning and she couldn’t breath. Her eyes felt like they were melting inside of her skull and she couldn’t see. It hurt so bad. Stan was right there and he wasn’t helping her. _“Grunkle Stan! It’s me! It’s Mabel. It hurts so bad, please tell me what's happening. Please...help me. I’m so sorry!”_

 

“Let’s go sit on the couch. Come on.” He pulled coat guy into his arms and wiped his face. “Hey.” The guy hesitated before looking into his eyes. “What’s your name, hot stuff?” The broken expression returned to his eyes. 

 

_ “What’s his name?! Grunkle Stan?!”  _ She torn at his skin, trying anything to get him to acknowledge her to no avail. Why was she even trying? She is the reason he can’t remember. She’s the one that caused all of this and now here she was begging for an escape from the pain she more than deserved. 

 

“Stanford. I’m Stanford Pines and you’re Stanley Pines. That boy upstairs is Dipper Pines.” A foggy memory of two boys running around a beach together came into view and his stomach twisted before the man continued. “I love you and you love me.”

 

“I...I do love you, don’t I? So, the same last name. Are we...uhh...married?” He wasn’t wearing a ring but it was worth a shot. This guy was pretty hot for an old man. Was he that old? He hadn’t had a chance to look in a mirror. 

 

It felt like forged daggers were slicing through her chest and she half expected to see her skin bubbling away when she looked at her arms. Stan could make it better. He always made it better. She crawled on the couch, pushing her body as hard as she could against Stan’s back. His body was like a sponge the fire under her skin relented and helped her heart stop racing in her chest.

 

“Ha!” The sound was more of a sharp gasp than a laugh. “No, we’re not married. But we will be if you want to be.”

 

“So, we are...you know…” Stan rubbed at the back of his neck, remembering the feeling of a scratchy face against his own. It didn’t seem like a recent memory. More like something that had happened years and years ago. The guy seemed to think about it for a second. 

 

_ “WHAT THE HECK DID I MISS?!”  _ Mabel bent over her uncle’s shoulder and got as close to their faces as she could.  _ “LALALALALA!! LOOK AT ME!”  _

 

The man leaned into him, his hand going up to grasp the back of his head and leaned forward, pressing their noses together. “Yes.” He kissed him softly and Stan closed his eyes. A bright blue light glowed behind his eyes. That light...that light was bad. He pulled back sharply and muttered.

“Blue light. Why do I remember a blue light and why does it scare the fuck out of me?” The upstairs door slammed open again and the boy came running down. He looked like he had spent the entire time smashing his face into a wall, eyes sunken in and face red. He held a glitter covered pink book in his hands. 

 

“The scrapbooks!” He held it out in front of him like it were a priceless treasure.

 

“Dipper! NO!” Ford shot back from Stan and snatched the book from his hand. 

 

Something pulsed in Mabel when she saw the scrapbook.  _  “Why were you taking out all of the pictures of me?” _

 

“It’s ok, Ford. I took out all of the...problematic pictures.” His voice cracked and he swallowed. Stan could tell he was trying not to cry. What pictures would be considered problematic in a pink, glittery scrapbook?

 

“Are you sure?” Ford turned the book away from Stan and flipped through the first few pictures. They were all of Stan and Dipper, Soos and Wendy. 

 

“What are you two not telling me?” Stan was getting annoyed. 

 

“Here. This is you. This is you and Dipper.” Ford handed Stan the scrapbook and he wasted no time opening the sticker covered pages. His eyes scanned each picture, his mind clearing with every turn of a page. Him and Dipper on a fishing boat, wandering through a grocery store, standing next to a gigantic ball of yarn. Each of these pictures brought something with them. His stomach clenched as he started to remember the boy.

 

“Oh my god. Dipper. You’re my- you’re my nephew. How could I forget that?” Finally, it was his turn to cry. “I’m so sorry, kid.” He pulled Dipper into a hug and held him for a full minute before returning to the book.

 

_ “Why can’t you remember anything, Stan? Why can any of you see me? Do you remember ME?”  _ She looked at the blank spaces in the scrapbook where the pictures of her used to be.  _ “Do you even want to remember me?”  _

 

Stan’s eyes fell on a picture of him and Stanford. 

 

He hadn’t noticed it until he saw them next to each other. He pointed to himself, yelling at Ford in the kitchen wearing nothing but his underwear. “Ford, are we…?”

 

“Twins. Yeah.” Ford looked at the ground.

 

“Well, weirder things have happened I guess.” He flipped through the pages, something catching his eye before he turned the last page in the book. A girl in a bright pink sweater stared at the camera, her mouth a wide open smile as she dangled from a tree branch from what looked like a grappling hook. His pulse jumped when he saw her and he was filled with a powerful surge of happiness. He smiled and pointed to her picture. 

 

“Who is this?” Ford turned pale once again and glared at Dipper, his chest heaving as he snatched away the book. Something was VERY wrong and Stan could feel the happiness seeping from his body and being replaced with a deep sense of dread. “Ford, who is this?” The girl flashed in his mind, laughing and pulling him through the house by his hand. He was laughing too. 

 

“It’s no one. Don’t...don’t worry about it.” Dipper turned his head and Stan could see him squeezing his eyes shut. He looked just like the girl in the picture. His body began to shake and tears of fear clouded his vision.

 

“WHO IS SHE?!” He stood up and clenched his fists, grinding his teeth together.

 

“I’m so sorry, Stanley.” Ford stood and reached for his brother, eyes red as tears rolled easily from  the corners of his eyes. 

 

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” He yanked his arm away, a strong sob racking his body. “Tell me who she is or I swear to God I’ll burn this place to the fucking ground.” 

 

_ “Stan! Stan it’s me! It’s me, I’m right here! I’m right here, Grunkle Stan! Please!”   _

 

“Mabel.” Dipper muttered from the couch, his expression blank. 

 

It all hit him at once. The summer he’d spent running around with the two kids. Trying to get Ford back from the portal. Trying to protect the twins. He’d failed them; he’d failed HER. He closed his eyes and saw Mabel curled up with him on the couch, scared during a thunderstorm. They’d stayed up the whole night watching movies and telling jokes until she fell asleep curled up in his arms. He saw her chasing him around the house with a Nyarf gun as he retaliated with a rubber band and peanuts he quickly grabbed at the beginning of her onslaught. He saw her holding on to the button that would shut down the portal. His lifetime of work in her hands. She had looked at him, face filled with pain and confusion. She’d gone against her brother for him and risked the fate of the entire world because she saw beyond his cold exterior. Because she had believed in him. Her words stood strong against his weakened memories. ‘ _ Grunkle Stan, I trust you’.  _

 

Stan collapsed to the floor. “Mabel…” He stared passed Ford, eyes fixed and distant. Tears rolled down his neck, flowing freely from his unblinking eyes. “Mabel.” 

 

Ford knelt cautiously next to his twin, slowly placing his hand on his shoulder. “Stanley…” 

 

“I killed her.” He tried to draw in a breath, choking on a sudden heaving sob. 

 

_ “What do you mean...What do you mean you killed me? Someone answer me!”  _

 

“No, no Stanley. You didn’t. You saved us. You’re a hero.” Ford gripped his brother’s hand and pressed their foreheads together. 

 

“No.” He broke away and walked over to the television, robotic-ally turning it on and sitting back on the couch. His eyes were glazed as he fixed them on the T.V where a news station was covering the day’s events. He saw the monsters destroying the city. He saw himself locked in a cage wearing his brother’s clothes. He saw Mabel clutched in Bill’s hideous hand. The blue light...

 

Mabel watched the T.V in horror and sat down next to Stan on the couch.  _ “What’s happening?”  _ She knew he couldn’t hear her but she needed him to keep her safe, even if he didn’t know she was there. 

 

“Stan. We should turn this off.” Ford reached for the remote but Stan slapped his hand away without breaking connection with the screen. 

 

“No. I need to see.” He was shaking even harder as the film crew’s camera unsteadily recorded the scene.

 

**_‘SAY BYE-BYE!’_ **

 

Bill flicked his wrist and Stan and Mabel both watched as her body disappeared into the sky, fire burning her before she was incinerated. A shooting star leaving nothing behind except a pale pink dot, dimly glowing despite the daytime sun. Mabel swallowed and turned to her uncle, not attempting to control her emotions. No one could see her anyways.

 

_ “I’m dead.”  _

  
  



	3. Don't Take My Sunshine Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford and Dipper start working on a way to bring Mabel back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter than normal but I figured I'd put it up anyway. Don't worry, longer pain filled chapters to come!

The world paused around her, color evaporating and leaving her alone in a vast grey room that once surrounded her with vivid scenes filled with laughter and love. 

 

_ “Mabel Pines was the only mortality throughout this horrifically weird event. The mayor has begun work on a memorial service-”  _ The T.V screen went black and Ford threw the remote behind the couch. 

 

“Stan…” He tried sitting next to his brother but was pushed away as he stood, staggering against his own weight. He didn’t say a single word as he walked toward the stairs to the attic. That was where she had slept. He could remember her running up and down them, dragging glittering junk all through his house. She was laughing and calling his name. He could hear her voice ringing through his head, calling to him as she tore through the house like a sugar fueled tornado. ‘Grunkle Stan! Wait for me!’ It closed his throat and he strangled a dry sob. Her laugh, holy shit her laugh made the stars shine at night and the sun rise in the morning. If he ever believed in a god, it was because of her smile. Nothing that perfect could be human. She was nothing less than an angel. 

 

Mabel ran after her uncle, screaming his name.  _ “Grunkle Stan! Wait for me! Wait!”  _

 

Ford watched his brother ascend the staircase and turned to his great nephew. “We need to get her back.” 

 

“What can we do? Her body...it’s gone. Can we bring her back in like a different body or something? Like I did when Bill took my body? Do you think she’s still out there?” Dipper’s eyes widened and images of journal pages invaded his mind. He couldn’t think of anything useful beyond zombies but she had no body. The books were gone anyways. Burned by Bill. Covered in flames and transformed into ash. Just like his sister. 

 

“Yes, Dipper. I think she’s out there and it’s my best guess that she is still somewhere on earth, or at least somewhat apparent here. A tragic death often holds the spirit down until they can find peace. Knowing what little I do of your sister, I know she wouldn’t leave until she knew us three were safe and well.” Ford stood and looked up at the stairs. Stan had gone into Dipper and Mabel’s’ room and shut the door. “It’s probably for the best that we let him alone for a few hours.” 

 

“Umm, are you sure, Grunkle Ford? What if...I don’t want him to hurt himself. I don’t know if he was like this when you guys were kids, but Stan doesn’t really handle stuff like this very well. This is probably the worst thing he’s ever been through. No offence but Mabel was the only one who never once looked down on him. Now she’s gone and he’s alone again.”

 

It was like the kid had punched him in the stomach. It was true he’d pushed Stan away for years and when he finally did want to see him again...Fuck, he was such an idiotic asshole. How could he do that to his own brother?  He could never replace what that young girl had given him. She’d given him a second chance. She’d given him the love and trust no one else ever had only to have it ripped away from him. 

 

“Why don’t we get to work on some research?” His voice showed every ounce of the pain he felt. Ford looked at his shoes, still ashamed in himself even after all of those years. 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Stan shut the door to the kids attic room and looked around. It was a mess. Books and tubes of play make-up littered the floor. He walked over to Mabel’s bed, feet crunching on various beads and other jewelry that had spilled out onto the scuffed wooden floor boards. It looked like they had been torn from necklaces she had meticulously crafted, bent over the kitchen table for hours when it was too rainy to go outside. He wore the one she’d made for him for two whole days before almost ripping it off in his sleep. It was still hanging from his vanity mirror. 

 

Without looking Stan turned around and knocked a small music box off of Mabel’s cluttered nightstand. He bent over to pick it up and turned it around in his hand, stomach sinking as he sat on her stuffed animal covered bed. 

 

_ “Grunkle Stan. It’s ok. I’m right here. I’m still here.”  _ She curled up next to him, laying her head in his lap and trying with as much strength as she could manage to grab onto his pant leg. She cried, feeling her uncle shaking under her head and being able to do nothing about it. Knowing she was the reason for all of this. She was the reason she was gone. 

 

The box was small, maybe six inches in length and hardly deep enough for a few necklaces and a couple pairs of earrings. White paint chipped off at the edges and a bright, smiling sun mocked him from the lid of the music box. He wanted to throw it across the room and watch it smash into a million pieces. He wanted to destroy everything he could touch and then some. But instead he turned the little crank on the back of the box and opened the lid. A soft tune echoed from the box and settled in his chest. He wished he’d thrown it against the wall. 

 

_ “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. _

_ You make me happy, when skies are grey. _

_ You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. _

_ Please don’t take my sunshine away.”  _

 

Stan slammed the lid. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” His voice shook addressing the empty room and he fell sideways on the bed, burying his tearstained face into Mabel’s pillow. It smelled like her shampoo. Like apples and the leaves from outside where they’d spent the summer chasing down monsters and continuing their hunt for ‘The Author’. Well, they found him. He found his brother but he lost his little girl. 

 

“Fu-uck!” Hyperventilation tightened his chest and he kicked his shoes off, crawling under the dark red comforter. Large fingers clutched at the blanket as he tried to control his breathing. 

 

Mabel tried to lay as close to his chest as possible, pressing her cheek to his and whispering.  _ “Grunkle Stan, I know you can’t hear me, but I love you. You were everything I could ever want in an uncle and even though I’m right here, I miss you so much. Please, don't let me go. I don't want to die.”  _  She pushed her head under his chin and listened to his heart beat rapidly in his chest. 

 

Stan felt something pressing against his chest. He must have worked himself up so much he was having a heart attack. Maybe if he falls asleep, he won’t wake up. Stan closed his eyes and watched his cloudy memories mock him from behind his eyelids. 

  
  



	4. The Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel tries to reach out to Stan and Dipper and Ford make a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys. And Supernatural fans, this is getting into some "Bobby Singer's ghost" stuff. It's my favorite way of thinking about haunting. :)

Sunlight was streaming in through the open window next to Stanley's head, turning the room a sickening shade of yellow. Everything around him was pink. Why was it pink? Oh yeah. Right. He had fallen asleep in Mabel’s bed. He needed to get up. To go downstairs,make breakfast, pretend everything was going to be ok and try and get on with his life. Swinging his legs over the red comforter he made his way to the attic door. From the top of the stairs, he could here his brother and Dipper rummaging around the kitchen drawers, their animated voices drifting through the house. They stopped when they saw him in the doorway.

 

“We did it, Grunkle Stan!” Dipper spun to face him, holding an egg beater. 

 

“We found a way to bring her back, Stanley. It was so simple, I can’t believe I didn’t think about it instantly! All I need is one more thing…” Stan’s heart leapt into his throat. They could bring her back. They were going to bring her back to him and everything was going to be alright. He was going to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her. How much he needed her with them just so he could breathe. He could tell her everything he hadn’t had a chance to. 

 

“What is it? What do you need? Maybe I know where it is.” Stan stepped into the kitchen, hands shaking and pulse racing. 

 

“I need a- AH-HA!” Ford brandished a wire coat hanger from the silverware drawer. Well that was weird. How the hell did that get in there? Oh well, Ford had it now. He could go save Mabel and Stan was never going to let her go again. He followed his brother and nephew as they ran out into the yard. 

 

The weather had taken a pretty drastic turn since he’d woken up, angry storm clouds blocked out the sun and streaks of lightning lite up the sky. Ford run to a small table he had arranged in the center of the yard. Mabel’s scrapbook lay open in the center, open to a picture of her smiling at the camera. Ford suddenly appeared next to him, wearing a white lab coat and gripping the sides of the table as Dipper stood just a bit further beyond them, gripping a large lever. Ok...Now he knew for sure that a giant electrical switch hadn’t always been in his front yard. Ask questions later. 

 

“Ford! How are you going to do this?!” Stan had to raise his voice to be heard over the increasingly loud moaning of the storm winds. 

 

“Don’t question science, Stanley!” Thunder crashed above and Ford threw his head to the sky. “Dipper! Pull it! Pull it NOW!” A flash of lightning struck the scrapbook, burning it instantly. A blood-curdling cackle rang out from Ford’s lips  as a figure began to rise from the ashes on the table. 

 

“See? We did it, my boy! She’s alive! She’s ALIVE!” His eyes were wild and dark with nothing but the constant flashes of lightning illuminating his face.

 

An outline of a body was forming from the grotesque mound of wet ash on the table. It looked like a girl. “Mabel?” Stan couldn’t breathe. They really had done it! “Mabel! Pumpkin! Oh sweet lord, my baby girl!”

 

Her body quickly regenerated, details of her face etching themselves together as Stan wrapped her in his arms, tears staining his cheeks and heavy sobs seizing his body.  “Mabel, Mabel sweetie. I’ll never let you go, again. I’m so sorry! I love you so much. Oh my god, I love you.” She didn’t move and Stan pulled away, frightened that he had scared her with his onslaught of tears or hurt her somehow. 

 

“Mabel? Are you alright? Is everything-” Stan’s words were lost in the howling wind as Mabel opened her eyes. They were blank, white, pupiless orbs floating in her skull. She opened her mouth, ash pouring like sand onto the table below her. Terror gripped Stan when she reached out and touched his arm with a stiff hand. As soon as her fingers meet his jacket, her body collapsed into a pile of ashes once again. 

 

“No…” He couldn’t process what just happened. Mabel was just there. She was JUST THERE! “MABEL! NO! MABEL COME BACK! Come back! Please come back.”  He crumpled to the ground, reaching a hand to his face. As soon as his fingers made contact with his skin they turned to sand, coating the ground beneath him. The world went black. 

  
  


“MABEL!” Stan shot up from the bed as if he’d been tased. The bed was wet and so were his clothes, sweat soaking through the sheets. It was a dream. Just a dream. They hadn’t found a way to bring her back. She was still gone. His eyes felt like they were made of sand and his head was pounding so hard he was nauseous, the silence of the room making his ears ring. With one hand he flipped open the lip to the music box and it continued to play.

 

_ The other night dear, as I lay sleeping _

 

_ I dreamed I held you in my arms _

 

_ But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken _

 

_ So I hung my head and I cried. _

 

Stan peeled the wet clothes from his body and slumped back down onto Mabel’s small bed, wrapping his arms around himself. It felt like his guts were being ripped apart, opening a hole inside of him that couldn’t be fixed. “Oh my god…” A whine like a tortured animal emanated from his throat. “Pumpkin.” He clutched one of her stuffed animals and buried his face into its fur.  

 

_ “I’m not going anywhere, Grunkle Stan.”  _ Mabel pressed her body into the stuffed raccoon, managing to move it slightly. Not enough for Stan to notice, but enough for her to try and do it again. Something pressed against his cheek and he sprung up from the pillow.

  
  
  
  


“Dipper. I think Mabel might still be here on earth. I think she might be in the house.” Ford sat hunched over a small blinking machine on his desk. 

 

“What? What do you mean? How do you know?” He ran over to his uncle, desperate for any shred of information. 

 

“This device detects electrical impulses in the atmosphere. It blinks a different color for each different type of unnatural energy. This yellow light represents human bodies, meaning you, Stan and I. This red one is animals. The blue is the one we’re looking at. It’s meant to pick up residual energy. The most common and most likely explanation is some kind of spectral force.” Ford leant back so Dipper was able to see the blinking box. The blue light was flashing in unison with the red and yellow. 

 

“It’s blinking! She’s still here, Ford! What do we do? Can we bring her back? Where do we start?” Dipper began pulling books from the shelves and stumbled under the weight of them all. 

 

“My boy, you need to calm down. I have no idea if this even is your sister. It could be any number of spectral anomalies hanging around this place. And even if it is, I’m not sure we can bring her back.” 

  
  
  
  


Stan felt the raccoon move. He felt the damn thing press against his face. His eyes snapped open and he sat up, scanning the room for anyone who might have came in without him knowing. The music had stopped, the crank running its course and the room was silent once again. He didn’t see anyone but that didn’t matter. People were sneaky around him. 

 

“Ford? Dipper?” His voice sounded unused and he winced at the strain of speaking beyond a whisper. There was no reply. 

 

_ “Did you feel that, Grunkle Stan? Can you hear me? GRUNKLE STAN!?”  _ Mabel pressed her body against the raccoon once again, focusing solely on moving it just the slightest bit. Something felt different the harder she concentrated. She felt weird; heavier like she were putting on several layers of clothes. 

 

Stan saw something flash in front of him and he pushed himself backwards on the bed, holding back a yell with the palm of his hand. 

 

_ “Grunkle Stan! It’s me! It’s Mabel!”  _ She pushed harder and harder, putting some distance between the pair.

 

“Oh my god, I’m losing my mind. I’ve fucking lost it.” Stan swore he heard Mabel’s voice. It wasn’t just a memory, either. It was like she were sitting in front of him. 

 

_ “No, you haven’t Stan! I’m here! I’m right here! Can’t you see me? You can hear me! I know you can!”  _ She was getting desperate, her body growing stronger the longer Stan stared in her direction. 

 

“No, no. Fuck, what’s wrong with me.” He pressed his palms against his face, trying to push the thoughts deeper in his head. “Please, why is this happening? I don’t want to go insane. I just want her back. I can’t lose the little mind I have left.” 

 

_ “You’re not losing your mind! I’m really here! Oh, gosh Stan. Please believe me!”  _ She felt her face heating. She hadn’t felt anything but cold since she’d shown up in the shack. 

 

Stan sobbed into his hands and shook his head. “No, no, no, no, please go away. Go away. Go away!” 

 

_ “Stan! I don’t want to go away! Please, don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to be alone.”  _ She reached out and touched Stan’s arm, feeling the warmth from his skin on her hand. Stan lurched his arm away from his face and pushed his body against the hard wood of the wall. 

 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?” He was on the verge of hyperventilating, eyes wide and full of terror. 

 

_ “I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m here and I’m scared. Please, don’t ignore me. I’m real. I swear. At least, I’m pretty sure I’m real. I honestly don’t know but I think I’m real.”  _ She took a chance and reached a hand out to Stan once again, pushing at that warm feeling one last time. Stan could make out a faint smokey outline of his little girl. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. I'm Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan might have an idea. Not a good one, but it's his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left.

  
  
  
  


“Am I going crazy? Mabel...are you really there? Oh my god,this is insane.” Stan sat forward and slid a hand through his hair, bringing the other around to the place that had been touched by an invisible hand. 

 

_ “Yeah Stan. I’m really here. And it really sucks.”  _ Mabel knew she was finally getting through to him. Stan slowly moved away from the wall. 

 

“How? How are you here? You’re...I saw you. I saw you-”, he swallowed around the lump in his throat before continuing. “You died.”

 

_ “Yeah, I guess I did. I didn’t really know it for a while. Can you see me?”  _

 

“I-I think.” She was starting to take on some kind of shape. It wasn’t much but Stan was positive he could tell where the voice was coming from. Reaching out a hand to the foggy patch of air, he felt something. Like sticking your hand in the fog from a fog machine. It was cold.

 

_ “You can! This is me. You’re touching me.”  _ Oh god, this was really happening. He could see her. He could touch her! Maybe it would be ok. Maybe she would come back enough to keep living in the Shack like nothing had ever happened. Maybe Ford could bring her back for real! 

 

“Mabel! Oh, sweetheart! You’re really here! You’re here.” The tears began before he knew what was happening. “Maybe, maybe Ford can bring you back. You can be here again. With us. With me.” 

 

She wanted to believe that. She wanted to believe it so bad but somehow she knew it was impossible. She didn’t know why she knew. Maybe it was just something you had programed into your brain after you died. The knowledge that you could never come back. Never hug your loved ones ever again. That you’d be alone forever. Or at least until someone else died. And even then they could go wherever you were supposed to go when you died. Why did she stay? What was she supposed to do? 

 

_ “Grunkle Stan, I-I don’t think I can come back. I don’t think it works that way.”  _ She wanted to wipe away his tears but when she reached for his face, her fingers still failed to make a complete connection. Her heart sunk and if she were human, she would have wanted to throw up.  _ “I’m so scared, Stan. It’s so cold. I’m always so cold. I-I want to hug you, again. I never want to let you go. And Dipper and Ford. I want to feel Grunkle Ford’s sweater on my cheek again. It was so warm. Everything was so warm.”  _

  
  


“Dipper. I can’t do this. I cant-I can’t…” Ford wiped his sleeve across is eyes. He’d tried to hold his composure. If not for Dipper’s sake, then for his own. He was supposed to be the stable one. The had interior that could fight through anything. But he couldn’t. He kept seeing his beautiful niece every time he blinked. He couldn’t close his eyes. Nothing in the books he’d collected for years through multiple dimensions were helping him. Nothing was helping. There was nothing. 

 

“Ford, what do you mean? What can’t you do?” Dipper hadn’t left his uncle’s side, peering over his shoulder every chance he got. 

 

“Bring her back, Dipper. I can’t bring her back. I’ve tried everything. There’s nowhere left to look.” Ford swallowed and tucked his face into his arms. “I’ve failed her. This is all my fault. I killed her. I killed our little angel. She was perfect. So perfect. So much like Stan. I failed him and I failed you, Dipper. I’m so sorry. So sorry. I-” 

 

“Grunkle Ford...You didn’t fail us. It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. We can’t bring her back. But we can help her. You’re sure she’s still here?” He grabbed a book from the desk and flipped it to a bookmarked page. 

 

“I’m nearly positive. The EMF reader has shown a steady reading since yesterday. It hasn’t left the Shack.” 

 

“But how do we find out if it’s her or not? Isn’t there like some, I don’t know, test you can run or something?” Dipper stared expectantly up at his uncle. 

 

“No, all we can do is assume.”

 

“I found something while you were looking through those books. It can’t bring her back, but it can help her pass over to the other side or whatever it is. I miss her so much, Ford. But if we can’t bring her back, I don’t want her wandering the earth alone forever. I love her.”

 

“I know, my boy. I do too. What have you found?” Ford took a steadying breath and reached a hand out and grabbing the book from Dipper’s hands. 

 

“It’s a spell or something. It say’s that if she’s still here on earth, and her body had been destroyed, that there must still be something here on earth that she has some kind of physical attachment to. Like a doll or something.”

 

Ford read the words written down on the aging yellow pages. 

 

We must try and find out where the source of her energy is coming from and burn it. Something she would have spent a lot of time with and had an emotional connection to.” Ford stopped and thought. ‘What didn’t that girl have an emotional attachment to?”

 

Dipper covered his eyes and groaned. “We’d have to burn the entire shack down and it still probably wouldn’t help. She could have became emotionally attached to a tree for all I know.” 

  
  
  
  


“Mabel...Sweetie, please.” He wasn’t sure what he was asking for anymore. He didn’t want to keep going on like this. His little girl was cold and alone and he couldn’t do anything to help her. He was useless. 

 

_ “I’m sorry, Stan. I’m sorry I left you. I wish you were here.”  _ Stan’s eyes widened at her words. She wanted him there. He could do that. He didn’t want to stay here anymore. Hell, he’d lived a good, long life and now maybe Ford could finally take Dipper on as his apprentice without him and Mabel there to stop them. It would work out for everyone. 

 

“Mabel, I can be.” He moved to stand and stopped when he stepped on one of the many pictures of Mabel Dipper had ripped out of her scrapbooks. Bending down, he grabbed on of himself holding her on his shoulders. They were both so happy, her goofy personality illuminating his dark demeanor. He ran a finger over her glossy face. “I will be.” He tucked the picture into his pocket and went down the stairs to his bedroom. 

 

_ “Stan? Stan what do you mean?”  _ He said he could be there. That he WOULD be there. Did that mean what she thought it meant?  _ “STAN! Stan stop!”  _

 

He didn’t hear her. Well, if he did, he didn’t listen. His mind was made up. Sure, he probably wasn’t thinking straight and someone could probably talk him out of this, But he didn’t want them to. He REALLY didn’t want them to. He stood in front of the mirror and inhaled. 

 

_ “Stan, what are you doing? What’s going on?”  _ Mabel tried to tug on his shirt, but it was pointless. 

 

“I’m going to fix this, pumpkin. I’m going to fix it for everyone.” He striped off his underclothes and changed into his best suit. Sitting at the desk, he grabbed a loose piece of scrap paper and scribbled a short note before heading to the kitchen, note in hand. 

 

_ “Grunkle Stan, please. You don’t have to do this.”  _ She felt like a terrible person. Even as the words came out of her mouth, she wanted him to. She didn’t want to be alone and if Stan was there with her, well, she wouldn’t be. They could stay in the Shack together and live like they used to, just more transparent. But Ford and Dipper would both lose their twin. Ford would lose Stan just like Dipper lost her. No. 

 

_ “No, Stan! Please stop!”  _ It didn’t matter. Stan placed the note on the kitchen table and rubbed his thumb over her picture before tucking it into the pocket of his suit jacket. 

 

“I’m coming, pumpkin.” He walked out onto the porch and headed into the woods. 

 


End file.
